forum Thoughts on unrealistic monologues/characters who have self-awareness superpowers?

Started January 10, 2018 by @Masterkey

tune

I just found this in my phone's notes, something I'd written awhile ago after being mad at bad books in general. I thought I'd share it and ask people's thoughts on the subject. (sorry, I was pretty frustrated when I wrote this)

Let us PLEASE stop getting to know a character's inner workings by his own words. Girl, you may SAY you're open-minded and easy-going, but your actions will speak louder than your words. Boy, you may SAY you're not mad, but your actions will speak louder than your words. AUTHORS. STOP DOING THIS NONSENSE. I wanna see characters saying things they don't actually mean, telling lies they don't realize are lies, lying all the time out of habit, even if the reader doesn't realize it. I want characters who don't even know the truth about themselves, because more often than not, a regular human isn't as self-observant. Real people don't necessarily stay consistent with their personality "habits" either. I used to say I was tough. That I NEVER got offended. Maybe it was sort of true for most of the time, but I was actually shocked when I started to take offense to things. And I probably had taken offense all along and never realized. These are real people. No more frequent emotional breakdowns, no more constant speeches and monologues, NO MORE. Real people don't do this.

Preach. It's true that readers can receive information through a character's own thoughts, but it's more accurate hearing from a friend who knows them well or even a parent who raised them. I didn't know my favorite color was actually red until my friend pointed out I wore it nearly every day. I thought it was blue! I don't even own any clothes that are blue! I also didn't think my handwriting was sloppy until my friend told me they couldn't even read what I wrote on a note to them. Damn, I didn't even know I needed glasses until my teacher told me to get some so I'd stop squinting! Real people don't have speeches or monologues naturally, nor do they know exactly what they appear as to others. I completely agree with you, you're not the only one. :)

@RebeccArt Yay, I'm not alone!

Overly lengthy infodumping is already bad, so when it's a character talking about themselves? Unreliable narrator bells going off.

Agreed